Karen Solie

A reading and conversation between producer Mike Ladd and Canadian poet Karen Solie, recorded in front of the audience at the 2013 Adelaide Writers' Week.

Karen was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, central Canada. She grew up on the family farm and worked in all sorts of jobs (which sometimes re-appear in her poetry.) She studied at the universities of Lethbridge and Victoria, taught English and poetry in Banff, and now lives in Toronto. Karen has published three collections of poetry: Short Haul Engine, Modern and Normal, and the latest, Pigeon, which won the Canadian Griffin Prize.

Her poetry is often about physical and emotional shifting, people on the road to somewhere, identities somewhat in question. She talks to Mike Ladd about long distance driving, her Catholic upbringing, the found poem, and the realities of modern farming on the prairie.

Andrew :

karen solie :

17 Aug 2013 8:32:13pm

We heard Karen Solie reciting one of her poems on our way home one evening and we were transported to Canada to the prairies where I grew up. Her ability to capture the very essence of the landscape is awe inspiring and we are instant fans of Karen. Thank you so much for featuring her on your program.